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Whan looking to move Evian back to summer

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan talked about his continuing interest in pursuing ownership of the Ladies European Tour, about next year’s LPGA schedule and a possible extension of the tour’s Race to the CME Globe and about future plans to improve the Evian Championship during his visit Tuesday to Golf Channel studios.

Whan on the LET ...

Whan said his proposal to take over ownership of the Ladies European Tour in partnership with the European Tour and R&A isn’t dead yet. He’s hoping to revisit the possibility in the spring.

Whan told GolfChannel.com that the LET is committed to continue governing itself, but that he hopes to renew discussions in April or May.

Whan teamed with the European Tour and R&A in September to make a formal pitch for taking over the struggling LET.

“The LPGA, the European Tour and the R&A came together with a plan where the three of us would fund the LET over a three-year period,” Whan said.

Whan said the proposal would require the LET to give up ownership of its tour and move under the LPGA’s umbrella in a partnership with the European Tour and the R&A.

It’s a big call for the LET.

“We told the LET if they wanted us to come in and invest this kind of money and make this kind of difference over the next few years, then it’s going to have to be a property we are going to own and run,” Whan said.

Whan said the timing of the proposal late in the year added pressure to the discussions with the 2018 season nearing.

“We agreed to reconvene in the late spring,” Whan said. “We will see where things stand then.”

Whan said with just three months left before the new year, the LPGA and its partners would have required a quick decision to be able to launch a rebuild for the 2018 season.

“I felt like I was adding pressure instead of relieving it,” Whan said. “I told them if the timing was bad, I can step away from the table at this time.”

On the Race to the CME Globe and 2018 LPGA schedule ...

With the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., next week, Whan strongly hinted the Race to the CME Globe’s season-long point series may be securing a long-term future.

“Next week, we will have some news about the CME Globe,” Whan told Morning Drive. “We will be racing for the Globe for a lot of years in the future.”

Whan will unveil the LPGA’s 2018 schedule during next week’s CME Group Tour Championship. He said it will feature 35 events, as it did when he released the schedule last year, though there will be significant changes.

“We will lose a couple events and add a couple,” Whan said.

The Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada lost its sponsorship and won’t be on next year’s schedule. Whan said the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open, played at the start of the fall Asian swing, also will not be on next year’s schedule, but only because it is moving up into an early slot on the 2019 schedule.

Whan hinted the two new events in ‘18 may include a second tournament in Hawaii, to add to the Lotte Championship, or at least be a location to easily twin with Hawaii and help travel plans for players making that long trip west.

“We are going to add another opportunity to stay out there a week longer,” Whan told Morning Drive.

On the Evian Championship ...

With bad weather plaguing the Evian Championship again in September, Whan faced criticism over his decision to scrub scores from the first round in France and then to shorten the major championship to 54 holes.

Whan said he’s going to make a significant schedule change in hopes of improving tournament conditions.

“We will get Evian back to a summer date,” Whan pledged. “It may not be in ’18, but certainly by ’19.”

Whan said he believes in Evian as an LPGA major, but he regrets his decision to move the event to September, with its rainy season and its shorter days.

On the strength of his Western Am title, Hammer, 18, has soared to No. 18 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He credited his work with swing coach Cameron McCormick and mental coach Bob Rotella.

“Just really started controlling my iron shots really well,” said Hammer, who has worked with McCormick since 2015, when he qualified for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay as a 15-year-old.

“Distance control with my wedges and all my iron shots, playing different shots, has become really a strength in my game. I’ve really turned the putter on this year, and I’m seeing the lines and matching the line with the speed really well. I think that’s been the key to my summer.”

A two-time New Zealand Amateur champion, Hillier is ranked 27th in the world. He said that, entering the tournament, he would have been pleased just to make it to match play.

“But to come out on top, it’s amazing,” Hillier said. “Cole is a really good golfer and has been playing well lately. So, yeah, I’m in good company.”

Faldo: Woods told fellow Masters champ 'I'm done' in '17

Fresh off his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, it's easy to get caught up in the recent success and ebullient optimism surrounding Tiger Woods. But it was not that long ago that Woods even hitting another competitive shot was very much in doubt.

Six-time major champ Sir Nick Faldo shed light on those darker times during a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show when he relayed a story from the 2017 Masters champions' dinner. The annual meal is one of golf's most exclusive fraternities, as only the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club is allowed to dine with the men who have each donned a green jacket.

Last spring Woods had not yet undergone spinal fusion surgery, and Faldo explained that Woods at one point turned to an unnamed Masters champ and grimly assessed his future playing chances.

"I know he whispered to another Masters champion, two Masters dinners ago, 'I'm done. I won't play golf again,'" Faldo said. "He said, 'I'm done. I'm done, my back is done.' He was in agony. He was in pain. His leg, the pain down his legs, there was nothing enjoyable. He couldn't move. If you watched footage of him, he couldn't even get in and out of the golf cart at the (2016) Ryder Cup when he was a vice captain."

But Woods opted for fusion surgery a few weeks later, and after a lengthy rehab process he returned to competition in December. His 2018 campaign has been nothing short of remarkable, with a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with a T-6 result at The Open when he held the outright lead on the back nine on Sunday.

After apparently even counting himself out, Woods is back up to 26th in the latest world rankings and appears in line to be added as a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup next month.

"What he's been able to do is unbelievable," Faldo said. "To turn this aruond, to get this spine fusion, it's completely taken away the pain. To have this mobility is absolutely amazing. Great on him, and great for golf."

McDowell needs Wyndham result to maintain status

For the first time in nearly three years, Graeme McDowell heads into an event with his PGA Tour status hanging in the balance.

The Ulsterman joined the Tour in 2006, and he has had nearly uninterrupted status since winning the 2010 U.S. Open. But McDowell's two-season exemption for winning the 2015 OHL Classic at Mayakoba only extends through this week, where he will start the Wyndham Championship at No. 143 in the season-long points race.

McDowell tied for fifth at Sedgefield Country Club in 2016, and he will likely need a similar result to crack the top 125 in the standings and retain his fully exempt status for the 2019 season. While he finished T-10 in Las Vegas in November, that remains his lone top-10 finish of the Tour season. The veteran's best results this year have come in Europe, where he tied for fifth at the Italian Open and finished T-12 at the BMW PGA Championship.

"I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I feel like it's not a do-or-die scenario for me," McDowell told reporters earlier this month at the Barracuda Championship. "I feel if I was 25 years old without a European Tour card to fall back on, it would be a do-or-die scenario. Certainly trying to put the pressure off, if I don't get myself into the top 125 it's not the end of the world for me. I still feel like I can play a great schedule next season."

By finishing Nos. 126-150 in points after this week, McDowell would retain conditional status that would likely ensure him at least 12-15 starts next season. He would also still have privileges as a past tournament champion.

But he's not the only winner from the 2015-16 season whose two-year exemption is on the verge of running out. Fabian Gomez (160th), Peter Malnati (164th) and Billy Hurley III (202nd) all need big results in Greensboro to keep their cards, while Shane Lowry, David Lingmerth and Matt Every all earned three-year exemptions for victories in 2015 but currently sit Nos. 139, 140 and 184 in points, respectively.

Last year four players moved into the top 125 thanks to strong play at Wyndham, with the biggest jump coming from Rory Sabbatini, who went from No. 148 to No. 122 after tying for fourth place.

Vogel Monday qualifies for eighth time this season

The PGA Tour's regular season ended with another tally for the Monday King.

While Monday qualifiers are a notoriously difficult puzzle to solve, with dozens of decorated professionals vying for no more than four spots in a given tournament field, T.J. Vogel has turned them into his personal playground this season. That trend continued this week when he earned a spot into the season-ending Wyndham Championship, shooting a 5-under 66 and surviving a 4-for-3 playoff for the final spots.

It marks Vogel's eighth successful Monday qualification this season, extending the unofficial record he set when he earned start No. 7 last month at The Greenbrier. Patrick Reed earned the nickname "Mr. Monday" when he successfully qualified six different times during the 2012 season before securing full-time status.

There have been 24 different Monday qualifiers throughout the season, with Vogel impressively turning 19 qualifier starts into eight tournament appearances.

Vogel started the year with only conditional Web.com Tour status, and explained at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May that he devised his summer schedule based on his belief that it's easier to Monday qualify for a PGA Tour event than a Web.com tournament.

"The courses that the PGA Tour sets the qualifiers up, they're more difficult and sometimes they're not a full field whereas the Web, since there's no pre-qualifier, you have two full fields for six spots each and the courses aren't as tough," Vogel said. "So I feel like if you take a look at the numbers, a lot of the Web qualifiers you have to shoot 8-under."

Vogel has made three cuts in his previous seven starts this year, topping out with a T-16 finish at the Valspar Championship in March. The 27-year-old also played the weekend at the Nelson and the Wells Fargo Championship, missing the cut at The Greenbrier in addition to the RSM Classic, Honda Classic and FedEx St. Jude Classic.

While Vogel won't have another Monday qualifier opportunity until October, he has a chance to secure some 2019 status this week in Greensboro. His 51 non-member FedExCup points would currently slot him 205th in the season-long race, 13 points behind Rod Pampling at No. 200. If Vogel earns enough points to reach the equivalent of No. 200 after this week, he'd clinch a spot in the upcoming Web.com Tour Finals where he would have a chance to compete for a full PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season.